National Geographic’s documentary Everest: The Other Side, arriving in IMAX and select theaters on October 30, 2026, chronicles ski mountaineer Jim Morrison’s quest to ski the mountain’s remote North Face. Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, the film documents the personal and professional toll of high-altitude risk.
Jim Morrison’s North Face Ambition
For Jim Morrison, the goal was never just to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Standing at the peak was merely the starting point for a pioneering descent of the mountain’s far less traveled, China-facing North Face. While the standard South Col route in Nepal draws a constant stream of climbers—with over 1,000 successful summits recorded during the 2026 spring season—the North Side remains isolated. Only five people have ever summited from that side, and until Morrison’s mission, no one had successfully skied down it.
The project began as a partnership between Morrison and his late life partner, Hilaree Nelson. However, their path was interrupted by tragedy in 2022. On September 26, 2022, a sheet of snow dislodged beneath Nelson, causing her death in an avalanche.
The Toll of Grief and Risk
The documentary, directed by the Oscar-winning duo behind Free Solo, Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, captures the project’s evolution from an adventure film into a meditation on loss. After Nelson’s death, the production was reshaped. Morrison, who noted he needed a therapist to process the trauma of losing his partner, eventually decided to continue. I eventually started finding myself looking at making ski turns again, and eventually said, “I still want to do this, I want to finish this goal because it meant a lot to us.” I kind of wanted to do it in her honour,
Morrison noted. He described his yearning to ride down the line as a desire to tackle the “raddest ski line in the world.”
Bound by a shared ambition, Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson set out to climb and ski the first descent of the direct North Face of Everest, the most coveted ski line on earth. Theirs is a story of love, loss and what it takes to chase the impossible dream. pic.twitter.com/xNF4EGqg1A
— https://x.com/NatGeo/status/2080253600836587601
The directors found themselves personally integrated into the narrative. Chin, a decorated climber who summited and skied the South Face in 2006, stepped in as Morrison’s climbing partner. Behind the scenes, the team was extensive: producer Shannon Dill joined the crew in the field, while Vasarhelyi reviewed hundreds of hours of raw footage from afar, working with editor Bob Eisenhardt to structure the film. Vasarhelyi, who has two children with Chin, openly questioned the sustainability of their lifestyle, asking, How many people who have eaten at our dinner table have died?
Advanced Filming Captures Recovery of Nelson
Filmed with advanced lens and drone technology, the 117-minute documentary presents an immersive experience that feels like a callback to the glory days of large-format cinema. The movie captures the harrowing recovery of Nelson’s body two days after her fall with intense clarity. The film also documents the support network behind the athletes; in 2018, Conrad Anker helped bring a psychotherapist on staff at The North Face to help team members cope with the frequent trauma of the sport. Anker, who survived a 1999 avalanche on Shishapangma that killed his friends Alex Lowe and David Bridges, noted that Morrison struggled with significant survivor’s guilt.
The film’s subjects—Morrison and his team—are supported by sponsors, including The North Face, which funds their expeditions. This creates a cottage industry of adventure filmmaking that keeps audiences hanging on the edge of their seats. The descent itself, which Morrison completed on October 15, 2025, lasted four hours and five minutes. Despite the horrid conditions
and rock-hard ice, Morrison was described as “shredding” down the slope. While the film is a technical achievement, it concludes as a mournful, solitary march. By the time Morrison reaches his dream, the families back home have largely fallen out of the frame, leaving the audience to grapple with the ethics of whether such perilous exploits are worth the cost.
As Vasarhelyi summarized in a moment on screen: This movie, the worst happened.
The film serves as a testament to those who look at absolute verticality and see an invitation, while forcing the viewer to confront the human debts left behind when adventurers head toward disaster.